Nightfall had covered the sky once again. Mitch and Jasper were walking along a long, dark street near to the family manor that wound its way towards the local hospital.
They had to take a longer route, because even though the manor was just across the street, they needed to avoid letting people see where they came from, so they took a brief walk around town to approach from the opposite end.
“So this is a simple job, something we do every once in a while out of courtesy for the hospital,” Jasper explained while stuffing his hands into the padded pockets of the thick jacket he wore on this cold night.
Mitch was wearing the same attire he wore in any weather: his old jeans and a baggy hoodie in which he kept most of his stuff inside the front joint pocket. “If we're doing another standard hospital sweep, why is your face creased more than usual?”
Jasper simply nodded in response “We are commissioned by the hospital management to talk with one of the patients this time. I don't like dealing with the living, especially brats with barely dried snot oozing from their noses like a certain someone.”
“Talk?” Mitch asked, rather taken aback by how casually he mentioned it. “Wanna expand on that?”
Jasper removed a hand from his thick coat to flick Mitch’s nose like he was some child.
“Hey!” Mitch spat, rubbing his nose.
“The hospital has reason to believe one of the patients can see spirits, so they want us to probe the situation with some questions.”
“Are there people from the family in the hospital?” Mitch asked, looking over his shoulder occasionally to see the long winding path behind them that seemed to stretch on just as far as the path in front of them did, neither having any source of lights.
“No, but the head of staff is aware of our existence. They know what to look out for in cases and sometimes a sect of The Family comes by for a sweep of the place.” By this point he held a hand up to halt the conversation as a car came around the corner ahead and drove by.
Once it was gone Mitch eagerly continued his probing. “Surely they would take care of it if they were already there.”
“You underestimate laziness under the guise of bureaucracy,” Jasper chuckled, sliding his hand back into his pocket.
“Sometimes they come in for some official business and notice it while they are there.”
“What form of official business could the family have in a hospital out here in our famous town?” Mitch asked, while gesturing enthusiastically to the aged, suburban houses in the distance and withering trees strewn around the street.
In the distance the hospital, lit up by the parking lot lamps, came into view as they walked around a wide corner. “Well, things like the official death records and such are important to the higher ups for data and metrics collection reasons. Some select members of the higher up hospital staff even know of the family's existence,” Jasper continued to explain, his tone quieting as they got closer to the hospital.
“I… see,” Mitch replied pensively. He knew that the family were very particular about how they kept their secrets so it seemed rather odd that they would be willing to share this information with members of the general public. “Seems rather out of place for how secretive we usually are.”
“Well, strong ties with the higher ups in the world is an integral part for us to be able to do our work without being noticed,” he continued to explain, stopping once they got close to the parking lot. He checked around to make sure no one was near them before he leaned in and whispered “There will be a man guiding us to the floor we need to be on. He will try and coax any information out of you that he can. Whatever you do, just ignore him and don’t answer his questions.”
“Right, got it,” Mitch replied. It wasn’t his place to question how the family did things, but someone like him being let in on the secret was an odd choice.
Jasper placed a hand onto Mitch’s shoulder and reminded Mitch to treat this like any other job where secrecy is of the utmost priority.
Knowing they had no time to ask once they got in, Mitch asked “What do we do about the questioning?”
“Good question,” he thought aloud as he tapped his foot against the hard pavement of the parking lot, echoing a tap. “Best I can say is that you stay quiet and outside the room. I have a rigorous questionnaire to go through with her. I can disguise it as being a therapist as she had apparently hurt herself to get sent here.” He seemed slightly stressed about the topic, his expression containing a stern determination.
A brief nod was exchanged before they walked through the parking lot quietly. Entering through the front doors that automatically slid open when, the entrance hall was spacious with a short walk to the front desk. There were a selection of stores on either side of the entrance which ranged from a general store to a deli that advertised their hot foot, though all of them closed at this late hour.
“Hello ma’am,” Jasper said when they got to the front desk where a rather tired looking woman was sitting on the other side of the glass window flipping through files.
Once he addressed her she asked “How may I help you, sir?” without looking up from her work, seemingly chewing on something obnoxiously loudly.
Jasper pulled out his drivers licence from his wallet and pressed it against the window
“Devan is expecting me.”
That was enough to cause her to look up from her work. Examining his driver's licence for a moment before she nodded and quickly typed something down into her monitor, and a few clicks away she nodded “I can see the request here, I’ll call for Devan.” she said in a more respectful tone.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he nodded in response and paced off to the side to wait.
Mitch followed behind him and once they were a safe distance away to talk said “This place is kinda creepy at night.” Noting that there was no one else around other than her, and every so often they would catch a glimpse of a janitor in the distance behind the help desk.
Jasper nodded as he tapped his foot along to a silent tune as he often did while they had to wait. “It most likely is to do with us being here.” He whispered, keeping an eye on the receptionist who on occasion looked away from her computer screen to watch the two.
Before the conversation could continue they were interrupted by a thick accented "'ello there lads!” as the double doors close to them swung open to reveal a rather sleazy looking man in a nice black suit with a short buzz cut. “Come along!" He said, enthusiastically motioning for the two to follow as he turned away without waiting for a response.
Jasper didn’t need to tell him that this was Devan. How he spoke and moved already rubbed Mitch the wrong way and it was only a matter of time before he tried to weasel his way into the family secrets within a casual conversation “Well how are ya doin’ Jasp?”
“Well enough.” Jasper replied simply.
At the end of the hall they came to a halt by the elevator. Devan hit the button with the side of his fist and pivoted on his heel to lean against the wall and turn his attention to Mitch. “Don’t think I’ve met you before, you from the spook patrol too?”
Mitch remembered what he was told and for the sake of secrecy kept silent. While it felt bad just ignoring someone he also understood Devan was putting the entire family at risk if he got any answers to his questions.
“Watch your mouth.” Jasper almost spat at him. Leaning in he pointed down the hall to a Janitor who luckily had a pair of headphones on while polishing the floors.
“Jeez, okay my man.” Devan responded, clutching his chest as if the two had mortally wounded him “Just tryna liven up this dead conversation. Thought that was ‘yer guys job.”
“We are not here to converse.” Jasper stated with an authority that sent a shiver up Mitch’s spine, a seriousness he had only heard in the most dire of circumstances.
The sound of the elevator doors opening with that droning "ground floor" cut that interaction short. Jasper pushed past Devan to stand at the back to which Mitch followed suit. “Where are we being sent to deal with?” Jasper asked.
“I thought ye weren’t here to conversate.” Devan replied sourly, it was a thick accent that sounded like something from around the Cork or Limerick region that would have been difficult for non natives to understand.
“You rather we just leave, and this place gets shut down?” Jasper warned. “Don’t test me, Devan.”
“Right, right.” He responded with a pout. “Third floor patients room on the east side. We moved out most of the patients from that area, and anyone left should be sleepin’.”
“Alright then.” He replied coldly.
“So, what's it like workin’ with this oul’ grumpy bastard?” Devan asked, turning his attention to Mitch when he couldn’t get a reaction out of Jasper.
His heart sank more as he ignored his question, just looking at him briefly before staring on ahead in the hopes that he would get the hint.
The sigh of defeat was enough to make Mitch feel even worse, but no matter how much he wanted to converse and even let the guy have a small amount of satisfaction in understanding anything at all, he had been specifically told to not even engage him.
Once the elevator opened they would step out, but Jasper put a hand in front of Devan. “You know the rules. Down you go.”
“Alright, I got it man.” He grunted, taking a step back and pressing the button inside. Mitch could understand the glare that they were getting, it said he was tired of trying, but nowhere in it did it say anything of giving up.
When the door closed over shutting them off from each other, Jasper sighed and released the stress he had been keeping in that uptight official stance he hated using. “Alright, now we can get to actual work.”
“Yeah he said it's on the east side. Should feel it when we get there.” Mitch agreed, following Jasper once he began to walk. He had a feeling Jasper was already able to feel it with how determined he walked and the sharp turns he took.
They had to be sure now that they didn’t openly talk about work and what they would be doing. “Just a clean up on the machines.” He explained in as simplified terms as he could.
Mitch quietly nodded in response and walked the mostly empty halls once more, until they got closer to the east side where there would have been a familiar chill shot through his body.
Jasper noticed his sudden shiver and the two shared a quiet glance of acknowledgment. Jasper walked ahead while examining the rooms as they walked past, eventually stopping at a room that was deemed as closed for regular maintenance.
Looking through the window they would be able to see a form laying in the hospital bed, but it was vague and certainly non living. At least that was what Mitch could discern from this distance. He had always had a knack for sensing spirits, or knack was a poor choice of words, he wasn't able to turn off his second sight. Having led on a few rare occasions to embarrassing himself in public by speaking to someone no one else could.
“Seems like this is the one that needs repairs.” Jasper said aloud.
Mitch was momentarily confused at first. It took him a moment to understand that clearly it meant someone had been watching them.
He refrained from looking around because he felt that might be a bit too suspicious, so he followed Jasper inside the dark and musty room that was filled with that typical hospital smell of a sterilised environment. Jasper walked to the first machine to begin his first 'routine inspection'. Making his way through the room as he looked at each one.
There was no doubt a spirit in here. It caused Mitch to stop dead in his tracks for a moment, simply staring at the boy in the bed. “Here’s the one that needs fixing.” Jasper said as he crouched down beside the bed with the boy atop it. That was enough to let Mitch know it was probably best to check the room across from them.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
As Devan said all of those in the opposite room were sound asleep by now but to be safe he pulled the curtains over just in case any of them would wake up in the middle of their passing.
He lay back on the chair in the corner to make it look like he was getting comfortable while waiting on Jasper to finish his work just in case someone entered and closed his eyes, lowering his hands below the viewing distance of the window and clasping them together.
It was harder to channel any natural energy like this, but being able to feel it pass through his hands was enough to tell him that he was on the right track.
He spent a minute just gathering up any potential magic in the room, an oversimplified and very fantasy way of describing it, but it was a way that was universally accepted by the majority of the family according to Jasper.
Once he had gathered enough and could feel it passing through his body he stepped and stood out of his own body. When he did, he would feel that there was suddenly no feeling left in his body, feeling like the wind was just passing through him and all the sounds of a bustling hospital lively with patients became a distant mumble in the vast emptiness.
Opening his eyes he stood within the clone of their world, devoid of any colour and even life. A world even the strongest of wills would go mad in given enough time.. It was a place that would make him feel incredibly uneasy but he had to steel himself and push forward for the sake of the spirit.
Now it was time to delve into the problem at hand, the vague and mysterious figure they saw when they entered was far clearer now.
Within the real world he was losing any form of identity as his natural mana dissipated but here his form was clearer. “Hey.” Was all he said as he approached the bed, hoping for once the spirit would hold some form of sentience.
The boy, roughly of Mitch’s age, would look up at him slowly, not sure what to make of his approach. Though he said nothing, the look of confusion was enough to show he at least knew that he was being talked to.
Mitch quietly nodded and stood over his bed, placing a hand down onto his chest. “Just relax. It will be over soon..” Was all he said, fighting back the desire to tell him exactly what was going on.
The boy would say something, though in a tongue he could not understand as it sounded whispy and vacant.
Mitch didn’t know what he was asking, or how to respond to it so he began to channel that natural magic of the world through him, letting it seep down through his hand into his decaying form to give him a more complete form for the passing.
Like with the fiend from the manor he would see constant barrages of his past. Benny was the name that came to mind when he would witness his fondest memories, a boy that he had seen in school several times though never knew him by name. A prominent member of the basketball team with so much left to live for.. A life cut short by an accident, and feelings of sorrow of all that could have been. A painful and sorrowful feeling that was to be replaced with Mitch channelling his own positive memories to him. His own school experiences and those lazy sunday afternoons spent watching the sunset while doing homework in his room.
He reached for his dagger on his waist and raised it above the spirit. The moment was short lived as a look of fear swept across Benny’s face which caused Mitch to freeze and for a brief moment even question himself.
“It’s okay…” Mitch said sullenly. He knew this must be done and despite how it felt to be looked at with such fear he steeled himself and raised his blade into the air, thrusting it down into his chest. There was no scream or sudden gasps of pain, just a silent twitch from Benny. He removed his hand from his chest and placed it down onto the base of the handle and prepared for the final stage.
Pressing the blade handle down as hard as he could, that natural energy would begin to spew out of him like a fountain of light around the blade before his form could no longer contain itself. There was no noise, no cry for help, no scream. Just a silent passing as his body burst into those familiar floating orbs of light that some in the family would refer to as “fairy lights”. They danced around the air while slowly returning to the earth where they would sink through the floor, in which most assumed we came from.
He would back up and return to his own body, finding the easier way in this situation to return to his own body was to sit back down into the seat to prevent any sudden vertigo with the change in perspective
He felt the rush of physical feeling coming back to him as he couldn’t help but gasp as his need for oxygen would also return. Though his body was constantly breathing while he was out of it, feelings like that were absent in a spiritual projection as it gained Its energy from the magic of his body.
“There we go, just about done!” Jasper exclaimed as he stood up from the machine, wiping a brow with an over exaggerated motion of the arm. “I think it’s about time we get goin’.”
Mitch grunted and got up from the seat next to him “Well, sounds good.” He struggled to keep himself still as a form of adrenaline rushed through him.
The death of a boy he at least vaguely recognised was enough to shake him to the core and that noise he experienced through watching his memories had been replaced with the droning beeps of several machines around them that weren’t hooked up to any patients.
Jasper put a hand on his shoulder since the curtain was closed. “Don’t let it get to you too much. You did what needed to be done, and he’s better off for it now.” he whispered. It was followed by what could be described as a sad half smile.
Mitch could only avoid eye contact and stare at his feet, a feeling of pain still welling up in his chest after watching a life with so much potential go to waste because of the careless actions of someone else.
Jasper held him into a one armed hug for a brief moment before he let go and walked ahead. “It gets easier with time, but don’t beat yourself up for having emotions.” Jasper walked out into the hall again. While he followed, Mitch would look around vigilantly in anticipation of the attack.
“Don’t worry.” Jasper said calmly and quietly.
“But..?” Mitch asked, not wanting to use any terms.
They came back to the elevator and once they stood inside and the doors closed he briefly explained “We have people helping us on nights like tonight. We don’t have to worry about the Imps. Hospitals are very vulnerable places so we have measures in place, workers and wards.”
When they were in the elevator Jasper calmly said “Just be quiet and allow me to handle this. You’ll most likely sit outside.”
Mitch shrugged, having no reasonable reason to argue with that. “Alright, at least I can listen in. I’m pretty curious about this questionnaire you have.”
Silently they walked through the halls until they made it to the private hospital room the woman had been placed into. With a knock on the door Jasper opened it with a kind “Hello ma’am. I hope it’s not too late.”
Mitch stood outside and leaned against the wall out of view of the window. He heard her reply “Oh no, I’m well awake at this hour anyway.” Sounding overly eager to appear social but she was quite tired if her tone indicated anything.
“Good, good.” Jasper replied jovially. It almost felt comical to hear him act so social. “The desk told me you should be awake so I thought I could swing by now instead of tomorrow.”
“You the therapist?” She asked. Mitch couldn’t see into the room so all he knew was the woman's voice which carried some hints of trying to sound serious but she wasn’t good enough at lying to hide the fact she was nervous.
“That’s me, Jasper is the name.” Mitch could only imagine he leaned in to shake her hand at this point which was followed by the sound of a chair sliding across the ground, most likely to sit beside her bed.
“Lara” She responded briefly. Shifting in her bed to sit upright and eye level with him.
“I just have a few questions to ask for this first session.”
It began with basic questions such as “Would you say you are paranoid?” To prod at the idea she wouldn’t feel safe if she felt these things around her at all times. Even if they couldn’t interact with her it would let them get an idea if she could see imps about her daily activities.
She answered honestly it seemed as she agreed, though Mitch felt this method took a little long and he wasn’t even sure if it was conclusive enough to make a decision on since regular people could have all forms of mental illnesses that would lead to a false positive.
“This could take days of prodding back and forth with questions like this.” Mitch thought as he leaned his head back against the wall. “What if it is all a waste of time too?” was another question that was quickly followed by “That's a lot of work both of us could get done…” He spent a few more moments listening in on the mundane questions before the theoretical light bulb appeared above his head and he hatched a plan. “I can get an answer out of this easily.” He placed his hands together after and began to channel his inner magic once more.
It took him a while longer than usual to step out of his body as he was partly distracted listening into the questions. “Are you often hearing noises you have no explanation for?” He asked, no doubt that would raise an eyebrow if she truly could see spirits.
Mitch finally stepped into that spectral form which caused the halls to turn dark and his field of vision to shrink rather drastically. The weaker he felt the less he could see around him in this form. It didn’t matter much how weak he felt, he only needed to get into the room. He was already exhausted from doing this for the previous passing and while you couldn't feel much in this form he could feel his body straining to maintain it.
Most would believe a spirit could just pass through the wall as easily as walking, but that wasn't the case. He placed his hands against the wall into the room that was reflected within this purgatory like world and he had to focus.
With everything being made of a natural magic that existed in the world to the best of his knowledge he had to try and resonate with it, match the ‘tune’ the wall had so he could easily pass through. Each object and person had their own ‘tune’ and to make it through he would need to harmonise his with the walls.
“Do you often catch yourself seeing things out of the corners of your eye?” Jasper asked on the other side, having felt the surge of magic from outside the room he internally panicked. Understanding instinctively that his grandson was about to do something stupid.
Before she could answer Mitch found the exact ‘feeling’ the wall had as he would describe it. A thick arrangement of grey he had to envision before he slipped on through, a yell slipping from his mouth as he would up falling through directly onto the floor which, luckily, he was not in tune with so he didn’t fall straight through.
The question and answer session would quickly come to a halt as both were by the bed open mouth and wide eyed shocked at the boy who just fell through the wall.
Mitch slowly got up after his rather ungraceful fall and looked at the two “Uh… Hey!” He said.
Jasper’s face twisted from shock to a look of pure rage for a brief moment, he knew he had to keep his composure here. He turned his attention to Lara again to see her response.
She was clearly in shock, staring bewildered at Mitch as she seemed to have gone pale which was more than enough evidence for the two to prove she could see spirits.
“I think we should give you a few moments to process this. I will be back in a moment.” Jasper said as he got up and shot daggers at Mitch which signalled to meet him outside for his inevitable death.
He looked very nervous but got up and returned to his own body. He didn’t have much time to regain his senses before Jasper grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall. “What in the hell were you thinking?” He asked in a hushed tone that somehow managed to still convey that he was shouting at him.
“I was just speeding up the process!” He responded in a similar hushed shout “A dumb questionnaire isn’t conclusive proof.”
Jasper looked rather frustrated at the answer, pacing back and forth a bit as he said “We have protocol for a reason.” rubbing his forehead roughly “This is just phase one of questioning. We use the questionnaire for a reason. We have to ask permission before going ahead with doing something like that!”
He was clearly frustrated as he paced about the hallway far away from Lara’s room. “Now we have no choice…” He sighed loudly, enough to most likely be heard by her.
“No choice for what?” Mitch asked, knowing what he meant but he wanted to hear him say it.
Jasper didn’t even look at him this time “We have to give her a choice to either join the family or..” he sighed again as he pinched his brow “There is a painstaking effort to go through to wipe someone's memories of all of this. It’s not as simple as just erasing this, at least a year's worth of memories go with one cleanse.”
It was certainly a revelation to him that that’s how this worked, and it did fill him with a slight tinge of guilt knowing that she was going to be given such a drastic choice because he didn’t think through what would happen if he did this. He had always assumed it was as simple as a wave of the hand and poof the memory of tonight was gone.
“Now stay outside, and this time don’t do anything stupid” Jasper said as he flicked his forehead roughly as he passed.
Jasper then quickly returned to Lara’s room, leaving Mitch standing with a guilt that was only getting heavier hanging over his head.
He slowly walked back up to the room and rested his back against the wall where he stood beforehand. He listened once again where Jasper had a more saddened tone “I am very sorry about that, but as you can tell I am not exactly here as a therapist. That oaf was my grandson.” His words stung, but he felt he deserved the ridicule.
He didn’t wait for her response, she was no doubt still in shock. “We are from a sect that deals with the dead. We were informed that you could possibly see spirits, and your reaction here has shown me that you clearly can.”
“But that's not possible...” Lara tried to argue as if she hadn’t just witnessed a boy step out through the wall
“Surely by now you know it is.” he retorted, most likely motioning to her cast as he said “you didn't give yourself that for no reason.”
“I'm just crazy... This isn't real.” She desperately tried to reason, her voice on the verge of cracking under the stress.
“You just saw what he did.” he replied calmly “We can offer a solution.”
The word solution would have immediately piqued her interest, she seemed to have teared up as he could hear her sniffling “What kind of solution?”
“Well.” he said, clearing his throat “We act as one large family. We hunt, and cleanse spirits that don't pass on. That is why we were here in the first place.”
Lara , shuffled in the bed trying to find any way to sit comfortably with this news. “So, our options to you are to walk away. You can go, and we will erase any memories of the last year of your life. You'll leave this hospital with amnesia, but you won't see these spirits ever again.” His tone was a mixture of worried but stern.
A heavy silence hung in the air for a few moments as Lara chewed on the first half of the proposal. “And... I'll be fine after it?”
Mitch peeked into the room to see Jasper nod, placing a closed envelope down onto the table close to her “There is another option. You can choose to throw this life away still, and come join us. Where you will be trained to help those in need during the afterlife, like we have been doing.”
Mitch was getting increasingly anxious as he waited for her answer, though she just looked dumbfounded at the position, pointing to herself after wrapping a necklace she held around her fingers “Me? I'm not good enough to help anyone like that...” Her eyes drifted down to the envelope and back up to Jasper a few times.
“You don't have to be.” Jasper assured her with a warm smile and a hand on her shoulder “You'll get training, you'll learn our ways. But you will have to leave here a different person. The world will never seem the same again and you will have to learn to accept and cope with that.”
While she continued to look nervous, staring at the envelope he had put down. Though Jasper didn't give her much time to think before he stood up. “We will give you some time to think over our offer.” Though she still looked overtaken by all of this, Jasper added “We will be back in a few days to get your answer.”